Steelrain
by NerdyTurtle0599
Summary: Rain is a great thing, it's fun for children to play in. It creates sweet moments. It hides the tears that stream down you face from the memories it can't wash away. That's why she hates rain.
1. Water

"It's Hot today huh, Conner?" Esmè asked her companion.

The white husky just pulled at the dark purple cloak that hung on her shoulders. She just sighed sadly and tugged the cloth from his mouth and continued walking. The two silently walked the streets of the city, which the name Esmè could not remember, to the train station. After paying for the ticket they both went to board the train.

"Try not to cause too much trouble on the train, Conner." Esmè whispered as she laid down across the seat.

"_Come on!" A childish laugh echo through the air. _

"_I'm coming, Luna!" Another voice filled the air._

_It was raining which meant it was the best time to play outside. Puddles were scattered about the large yard, rain poured from the sky and it was mere seconds before they were soaked from head to toe._

"_Now, now, girls. What will your parents say when you get home?" An elder lady called from her porch._

"_It's okay, Nè!" Esmè called back with a grin._

"_Yeah we're best friends we'll protect each other no matter what!" Luna said._

"_Best friends forever?" Luna asked wrapping her arm around Esmè._

"_Right!" Esmè finished the hug by wrapping both arms around her friend._

"_Hey girls! Smile!" Nè called._

_The girls looked up to see her holding a camera. The girls grinned and till with one arm wrapped around one another the two threw their hands up as if they were cheering._

Esmè awoke with a start and Conner was whimpering next to her. He obviously sensed her uneasiness. She rubbed his head to reassure him as she sat up.

"Let's go buddy." Esmè said quietly standing from her spot.

Esmè pulled her hood up, kept her face down and tried to blend in with the small crowed as she walked past military men. Apparently the men was very observant. One caught her arm and started to tug her away from the crowd. She couldn't let them see her face but she didn't want to cause a commotion, she was stuck. Suddenly the man that was holding her yelled out in pain and released his grip on her.

"What's wrong?" Someone asked as she made her escape.

"Something bit me! See! Oh god! I'm bleeding!" the man's cries got quieter as she ran.

"After that girl!"

Esmè ran faster and when they could barely see her Conner caught up to her. She heard bullets fire from behind and she saw a few hit the pavement. So much for not making a commotion. She had to draw them away from the people or they were going to get hurt.

More shots began to ring out as she turned down an ally. As Esmè came to the end of the alley she turned and suddenly slammed into someone. Groans sounded from both bodies and Esmè opened her eyes to have golden ones stare back into her own.

"Ah! I-I'm so sorry!" Esmè blush furiously and stood. Before the boy could say anything a big armored guy spoke up scaring the life out of her.

"Come on we need to stop, Marcoh!" A big armored man said as the sound of boot clad feet pounded against the pavement.

Upon hearing the sound looked back down the alley to see the group standing at the other, her hood was still cover her face so they couldn't see her, but anyway they raised their guns. Before she could react they open fired. She covered herself and was ready for the bullets but surprisingly nothing came. Surely they weren't that bad at aim.

She opened her eyes to see the armor guy was blocking the bullets. Suddenly Esmè was being pulled along by the golden eyed boy. She stumbled a bit before she finally got the idea and ran. Soon enough the armored man was following them while holding Conner. She simply smiled lightly back at him.

As they turn man different corners the military men fell behind, but they kept going. They turned one more corner and a man stood there, hands on his knees catching his breath.

"Marcoh!" Golden eyes yelled making him turn around. "We aren't going to take your research away!" He tried.

"No… I can't go there." The Marcoh man backed away from them.

Suddenly a man with a large 'x' shaped scar on his jumped over a wall. Everybody seemed to know him as they all froze. He landed and looked at them before turning and reaching for Marcoh. But the armored man grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Now I know you're nothing but an empty armor suit!" He said before hitting his suit and destroying some of it.

"Al!" the golden eyed boy yelled.

"Empty armor?" Esmè whispered, a bit startled as he fell.

She watched as the boy ran forwards and tried to attack the man. He didn't even get on hit on him no matter how hard he tried. The man simply dodged him before grasping his arm which she just realized was auto-mail! The man's hand started sparking in red, like it did when he punched Al. He was going to destroy his arm!

Without thinking she started towards them but she wasn't fast enough. The boys flew back wards as his arm shattered but she didn't stop. Esmè continued running and kicked towards the man taking him by surprise. She knocked him back a few feet and went for another blow but he caught her leg in midair.

"Auto-mail also?" He asked gripping her leg, but he was right, she had an auto-mail leg.

He pulled back and kicked her away while still holding her leg the force tore the limb from its socket, which sucked it was her whole leg, all the way up to her hip. She screamed out in pain and she could hear Conner growling and the man walked past her.

Esmè clapped her gloved hands together and then brought her right down into a puddle before drawing a frozen sword from it. She laid on the ground holding her hip in hopes of easing the pain as she cried.

"You said your older brother died in Ishbal, right?" The boy asked.

"He was killed by a State Alchemist, yes." The man answered.

"I am an older brother too, then kill me! That would make and equivalent trade." He said.

"Brother! You said that wasn't an equivalent trade at all!" Al yelled from his spot on the ground.

"He's not a state Alchemist! I should be enough!" Ah so he was protecting his brother.

"I will not kill your brother, but the misery I went through after losing my brother and people will never be satisfied with any equivalent trade!" He placed his right hand on the boys head.

Al yelled for his brother to get up and run but he stayed put. His arm started to glow but before anything could happen Esmè clapped her hands together and pressed them into the puddle in front of her. The water started to glow and a tentacle formed from it and grabbed the man and pulled him towards her.

"You want a state alchemist, there's one right here." She pulled right sleeve to reveal the clock.

The man stared at her before advancing on her. She rubbed Conner's head to stop his growling but that did nothing, the husky stepped in front of her protectively so she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"Sorry buddy." She whispered feeling a hand on the side of her head.

After a minute of waiting she realized she was still alive. She looked up to see the man, Marcoh holding up a red crystal and the man that was about to kill her was backed away from her holding his arm as if he was in pain.

"Why didn't you run?" The golden eyed boy yelled.

"I looked up an old document in Ishbal. On it I saw the same marking on your arm." Marcoh ignored the boy. "Even if incomplete, it has the same effects as the Philosopher's stone. After all that arm is—." he was cut off.

"No! Don't say it!" The man yelled.

"W-what's going on?" Esmè stuttered.

"Marcoh isn't using the power of the stone?" The boy asked.

Suddenly the man started running towards Marcoh. As a reaction Marcoh threw the stone at the man and he caught it in his hand. He yelled out in pain and his arm started to glow again. When the stone disappeared he turned to run out of the alley but was stopped at the sight of the military.

The man smashed his hand into the ground and created a dust cloud. Esmè used this a cover too, she quickly pulled of her cloak and held it out to Conner and with a dog nod he grabbed it and ran off. Without the cloak now she looked different. She was missing a leg, you could see her face, and her long sleeve shirt was a bright blue, plus they didn't know that her dog bit one of them.

"Al! Are you okay?" The boy asked crawling over to his brother.

"Idiot!" Al yelled before punching his brother.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"Why didn't you just leave me and run?" Al asked seemingly very mad.

"You would've been killed." The boy exclaimed.

"That's not a good reason for you to choose death, stupid!" Al yelled.

"Don't call your older brother stupid!" he yelled back.

"You were asking to have yourself killed right in front of him." Esmè spoke up from her spot on the ground. "That's pretty stupid if you ask me. Nobody wants to watch the person they are so very close to die." She added.

"We need to live. We need to research the Philosopher's stone and return to our normal bodies. So no matter what I won't let you die alone!" Al yelled.

Esmè heard something metal drop next to her and then something wet slid across her face. She opened her eyes slightly to see Conner. Her eyes closed again and she reached out to pet him as the boys continued to talk.

Esmè woke with a small groan, before she could sit up she felt an irritating pain in her hip. Her eyes shot open and she reached for her leg, or where it was supposed to be anyway. She looked around for her leg and noticed she was lying against a wall on the floor.

"Are you looking for this?" Someone said while a metal leg came into her view.

She sat up startled and groaned at the pain. Conner whimpered and nudged her face in attempt to make her feel better.

"You should be careful, and not move too much." Esmè looked up to see Al and The golden eyed boy.

"T-thank you." Esmè blushed and quickly snatched it from the golden eyed boy's hand.

Esmè stared at the ground willing her blush to go away, but it was hopeless, she could feel their stare piercing her. They all sat there like that in silence. Finally Al Spoke up.

"I'm Alphonse Elric and this is my older brother Edward." He said.

"I-I'm Esmè, uh, Esmè Krants. This is Conner. It's nice to meet you." Esmè smiled slightly.

"Ah that's your dog? I don't like him." Edward glared at her dog who simply glared back.

Suddenly a large shirtless man and a group of military people walked in to the room. Esmè's eyes widened at the sight and she shifted uncomfortably. The shirtless guy started to do poses and was talking about how he was going to fix in beauty. Al helped Esmè on to the counter as the shirtless guy got closer.

"The method to affix a soul to armor, only one person knows it. That would be Fullmetal." Another man spoke up. "That's why their bond is so close." He added.

"Yeah, but first I need to do something about my arm first." Edward said.

"If Edward can't use alchemy at all…" A blonde woman started.

"Then he's just a foul mouthed terror." Another man added with a chuckle.

"Who was just ready to give his life for his brother's safety…" Esmè said running her finger across the rim of the bottle of water they gave her. "Anyway, I need to go find someone to fix my leg." Esmè clapped her hands together and place one over the bottle and pulled the water out to form a 'y' shaped staff before freezing it. That's when they noticed the clock on her wrist.

The water in the bottle was just enough, she was short and it didn't need to be that thick so she was fine. She got off the table and steadied herself before quickly making her way out the door. She ignored the looks she received and continued to go.

"Come, Conner."

Esmè watched as a few kids played around with Conner, yet he looked as if he was miserable. One was on his back pulling at his ears yelling 'Giddy up horsey!' another was pulling on his tail and the one odd ball kid just poked him repeatedly. She noticed the train had stopped and they were at a station.

She stood with her now wooden crutch, she found a stick on the way to the train. She careful got off the train and looked around. This was nice green grass everywhere, it was a beautiful countryside. She hobbled her way down the road. Conner was chasing butterflies as they walked and Esmè simply took her time. She came to realize she didn't know which way she was going or which way she had to go.

"Um. I-I'm sorry for stopping you, but I, uh, I need directions to the auto mail shop located here, c-could you please help me." Esmè asked a man who sat atop of a carriage be lead but a horse.

"I can take you there if you'd like it's a bit from her and from the looks of it, it'll take you awhile to make it there." The man said.

"T-thank you, sir." Esmè opened the door and climbed her way in with a bit of a struggle.

While they rode along Esmè looked out the window enjoying the beautiful scenery. There was the sound of laughter echoing through her head and in the distance she saw herself and another girl playing in the flowers. She smiled and looked at the sky away from the memory.

"Thank you!" Esmè said to the man as he helped her out of the carriage.

"My pleasure. You be careful now." He called as he turned and left.

She hobbled up to the door step and after tripping a few times she finally made it. She knocked on the door and it swung open. Startled she leaned away from the door but without her leg she couldn't catch herself and she started to fall but she was caught by the waist and she gripped the arm. Esmè opened her eyes to find familiar golden ones.

"E-Edward!" She stuttered out.

"Esmè?" he blinked at her.

"Who's at the door ED?" Someone walked up behind him.

It was a pretty blonde girl who was wearing a jumpsuit but the top was hanging around her waist revealing her strapless bra. Esmè blushed brightly and tried to pull herself up but instead caught Edward of guard and pulled him down. They both yelped and landed in a heap of limbs.

"Ah! I-I'm really sorry!" Esmè apologized.

"You stutter a lot." Edward laughed standing up.

"Eh?" She blushed brighter, she knew she stuttered, she had a nervous problem.

"How did this happen?" The girl that she could now call Winry asked looking at the auto mail.

"Uh, a g-guy pulled it off." Esmè pushed her maroon colored bangs her ear, a nervous habit she had.

"Hmm, like the guy who shattered Ed's ar—huh?" Winry noticed the silver chain and the clock on her wrist.

Esmè noticed her staring. So she took it off and held it out to her.

"Do you want to look at it?" She asked.

Winry didn't answer, she slightly nodded. She jumped a bit when the cold metal touched her palm. She looked down at it and then up to Esmè again.

"I knew a girl who was like you, a mechanic. When she saw that I had she looked at like you did and she took it apart and reassembled it. I m-mean, I saw everybody else refuse you so..." Esmè looked down at her lap.

"Thank you!" Winry yelled before running off to work on the small object.

"You didn't have to do that ya know." Edward said with a small smile.

"I-I was just being nice, s-she looked like she really was interested in it." Esmè brushed her hair behind her ear again.

"Would you like to stay here for the night, some wires need to fixed and we can have you ready to go by tomorrow." The short elder lady said.

"T-thank you ma'am." Esmè smiled at her.

"It's no problem at all dearie." She smiled before exiting the room.

Esmè silently looked around the room at the mechanical items lying all around. They seemed really nice, they were friendly and funny, and they offered her a place to stay for the night. For time in a long time. She looked up at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey, dinner is going to be ready soon." Edward said walking over to help her up.

"Oh, th-thanks." Esmè said as they made their way to the dining room

"You really do stutter a lot." He chuckled.

Esmè blushed brightly at his words. "And you're really short." She shot back before covering her mouth.

"You just as tall as me!" he shouted, glaring at her.

"But I don't have a brother who younger and taller than me." She laughed.

"It's the suit!" He yelled.

Esmè winced every time Edward yelled out in pain while they re-attached his limbs. She insisted he go first since he had been waiting longer and after an hour of arguing with each other he finally agreed. After a bit he passed out and the limbs were attached. Pinako move him to the couch while Esmè hobbled over to him. She move the hair that stuck to his sweaty forehead as he slept.

"Your turn, Esmè." Winry put her hand on the shorter girls shoulder.

Esmè took Edwards spot and situated the blanket over her legs while the girls shooed the boys out. The auto-mail had to go all the way to her hip so she had to take off her pants. She hadn't had an auto-mail limb attached since she was eleven when Luna did it last.

"Ready?" They asked as the same time and she nodded.

The two counted like they did for Edward but this time Winry attached it before they got to three. Esmè bit her lip to hold back her scream and before too long she passed out.

Esmè winced and opened her eyes to once more find golden ones. She yelped and sat up smacking their heads together. They both groaned in pain as footsteps bounded into the room after a second laughter filled the air.

"Geez that hurt." Edwards mumbled.

"It's your fault." Esmè told him sitting up.

"You're the one who jumped up!" He yelled.

"You're the one who was staring over me like a creep!" She yelled back.

The two argued for a bit while everybody else laughed. After getting the two ice packs they were sitting at the table glaring at each other. Edward stood up and looked out the window before exiting the room. Curious Esmè followed him out to the yard.

"So you can fix him right away?" Asked Armstrong.

"Yeah, but there's a little trick to it though." Edward removed his brother's head and inside there was a mark.

"It looks like it's written in blood." Esmè said looking closely.

"Yeah, it's my blood. I was desperate." Edward smiled.

Armstrong started to swoon about their brotherly bond and Esmè laughed. The two backed away as Edward began to work. He clapped his hands together and placed them on Al's chest. Al started to glow and his armor began to reform.

"Let's do the usual, Al." Edward said after Al was fixed.

"The usual?" Armstrong asked.

"Our teacher told us that to train your spirit—." Edward started.

"You have to first train your body." Esmè finished.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Al asked.

"I knew someone who always said that, and then we'd spar." Esmè said.

"That's what we do, but I've never beaten him." Edward knocked on Al's chest.

"Then I shall participate!" Armstrong said.

The two stood apart from each other in the grass and the on Edward's move they started to fight. Edward tried to get a good hit on his brother but his attempts were futile. Eventually his brother knocked him away and then Armstrong stepped in. After a bit he was able to throw Al on the ground.

Now the boys worked together to fight him. Al ran forwards and occupied his hands and Edwards came from under kicking his knee from under him. With that they were able to flip him over and onto the ground. The two cheered happily before Edward looked over too Esmè.

"Your turn." Edward grinned.

"Bring it shortstack." Esmè taunted, surprisingly confident.

He ran towards her and she ducked out of the way before turning on her right foot, her auto-mail, and kicking him in his back. He rolled across the ground before getting up and running at her, he threw a fist at her and she dodged and went to punch him with her left arm but he caught her hand and his eyes widened as he noticed something, she was still wearing her gloves and sleeved shirt.

He opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off as she tackled him to the ground. They rolled around on the ground taking turns with who was on top **(that sounds dirty hehe). **Eventually Esmè was pinned and gave up with a sigh she was exhausted.

"Alright you won." Esmè laughed.

"Yeah!" He cheered jumping up.

The boys had left already and Esmè sat at the table while Winry looked at the window. Winry looked broken as she stared. She really loved the boys and Esmè could see why, they were great people. With a sigh Esmè stood.

"Esmè?" Winry asked.

"Hmm?"

"Who's Luna?" Esmè stiffened upon hearing the name. "The name was carved into the watch like something I saw in Ed's." Winry didn't look away from the window.

"S-she was th-the mechanic I told you about." Esmè said tears forming in her eyes.

"Did you love her?"

It was a second before Esmè answered. "Yes."

"When we stayed out too late, mom would blink a lamp on from the second floor, so we would see it and run back home, remember " Al said.

"Oh yeah." Edward said.

"You know, they love you." Esmè made her presence known. "That makes this your home." She was looking at the ground but you could tell she was crying.

"Es—."Edward started.

"Wherever there are people who love you and care; that is home! Whether you see it or not! And right here in Rockbell, Winry and Pinako love you and care for you, so just accept it. You never know they may not be there in the long run." Esmè finished quietly.

"Okay." Edward said.

Esmè's head snapped up to meet his eyes and she saw he meant it. She smiled and looked back down at the ground. They all made their way back to the house and on the way there Al pointed out a blinking light. Suddenly the boys started racing towards the house as Esmè and Armstrong stayed behind.

"Come on!" Edward stopped and waved at them.

Esmè blinked and stood there in her spot until Armstrong pushed her forwards. She smiled and ran after the boys.

The next morning they were all packed and ready to leave. The group thanked the two mechanics for their help and started down the road.

"You come back and eat with us once in a while." Pinako called.

"Yeah, Eventually." Edward called back.

"You too, Esmè!" Winry yelled.

Esmè gasped and turned to see them waving, she nodded with a big smile. They all made their way to the train station. The brother's bickered a bit and Edward ran from Conner. But other than that it was quiet. Esmè would've been lying if she were to say she wasn't going to miss them.

"What are you going to do now?" Al asked while Armstrong bought tickets.

"Uh, i-I don't know actually. I've kind of been floating from town to town with Conner." Esmè tucked her bangs back behind her ear.

"Why not stick with us for a while then?" Al offered.

"R-really?" Her eyes wide.

The boy simply nodded. She looked back and forth at the two and then Armstrong who walked up behind them and held up four tickets. She smiled and nodded while Conner jumped up and barked happily.


	2. Blood

Esmè stared at the burnt rubbish that was recently called the first branch of the library. It was all destroyed. She tuned out the voices of her friends and their new escorts and focused on the scene in front of her.

She had all ways loved books since she was a little girl. When she wasn't with Luna she was at a library. She'd often sneak into the central library, but she was caught so many times the librarians there gave up on keeping her out, plus when she became a State alchemist she didn't need to sneak in through the side door anymore.

Esmè silently ran her hands over the burnt books that she pulled from a box. She had heard it was possibly the wanted man Scar, but the mess was too big to be just him. She listened as Edward asked questions about who worked in the library and the records of who borrowed what and things like that but most everything was burned.

"What with you Esmè?" Edward asked catching up to her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" She feigned confusion, picking up the pace.

"Something's wrong." He said easily walking with her. By now they were leaving the rest behind.

"N-nothing's wrong." She avoided looking in his direction.

"Yes there is." Edward grabbed her arm to stop her from moving.

"It's nothing." She looked over to him. "Don't worry about it." She smiled before making her way up the stairs.

They waited until the rest of the group joined them before Edward knocked on the door. After knocking several times and receiving no answer Edward decided to open the door. They were all genuinely surprised at the sight behind the door.

Esmè's slowly stepped inside and looked at the mountain of books all around. She could feel the stares piercing her back as she walked around in wonder. She seemed so entranced that she almost stepped on Conner. Suddenly she saw something.

"Disappear, by Allen Grit!" Esmè squealed before seeing another book. "Gradient, By Hark Male!" She continued listening off books that she saw while the group watched.

Esmè suddenly screamed.

"Thank you for helping me!" Sheska smiled at Esmè who simply blushed and looked down at her lap.

"A-ah, you're w-welcome." Esmè said softly, obviously nervous again.

"Sheska, you used to work in the first branch, right?" Edward asked.

"Yes. But I read during work hours so I was fired." She said sheepishly. "But I need money to send to my mother, she sick." Sheska said.

At this point Esmè tuned out again and started looking through the books again, possibly drooling over all the choices. She had left all her books in her home town and when she went back they were gone. She grabbed a random book and dusted the cover off, before glancing back to see they were all still talking oblivious to her. Esmè turned back to the book and began reading.

"Ah so this is where you were?" Edward asked.

Esmè yelped loudly and dropping her fourth book the while jumping over to her left, a weird habit she had. No matter her situation, if she was started she always jumped to her left away from the danger, but in this case… Before she could say anything the wall of books she leaped into toppled over onto them. Great.

Twenty minutes later the two teenagers were free from the pile. Esmè winced as she stood, she defiantly had a bruise or two on her side. She laughed lightly at Edward's whines of pain and irritation, before wincing again in pain and Conner licked her leg trying to make her feel better.

"Geez that hurt." He whined giving her a pointed look.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered actually feeling quite terrible.

"Anyway let's go, I think you've had enough time to read." Edward said.

"But I haven't even finished this one yet. Give me five more minutes! I promise I'll be ready to go when I'm done reading it. I only have…"She looked. "A hundred pages left!" Esmè exclaimed. "W-what?" She asked as they stared.

"One; that was the most amount of words I've heard you say that weren't quiet and you didn't stutter them." Edward said.

"Two; You've been here for three days…" Al added.

"T-three days?" She blinked.

"Well, she's back to the stuttering." Lieutenant Ross muttered.

After getting the copy of Marcoh's book that Sheska re-wrote for them. They made their way to the Central Library. The boys thought that the secret to the Philosopher's Stone was hidden in Marcoh's Research paper. At first glance it looked like a bunch of recipes, but Esmè followed their lead anyway.

They gathered a bunch of books and looked through countless papers. Copying down what seemed important. Conner was napping under the table and Esmè even put a couple books to the side to borrow later.

"Edward, w-what about—huh?" She stared at the blonde boy who had fallen asleep with his face in a book.

She simply smiled and tucked his hair out of his face. He looked like a baby when he slept, a lot different from how he looks when he's working. Here he looked peaceful, other times he looked like he was constantly thinking about something.

Conner barked and as the doors flew open and a voice called out. Esmè jumped and then groaned at the pain in her hip where it connected with the table.

Edward and Al jerked awake from the sound of her cry and looked around trying to find the danger. The two looked at her questionably but she just glared at the man who came through the door.

"Sorry." The man said.

"Lieutenant Colonel! We haven't seen you since we got here." Edward exclaimed.

"Since Scar showed back up I've been busy." He said. "Oh, I didn't catch your name." he looked at Esmè.

"O-oh! I'm Esmè. I-I'm a friend of Edward's and Al's." She blushed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" Ross called saluting. "We will not be able to protect these two in case of an emergency. I believe they should go back to their lodges." She explained.

"I told you to leave us alone!" Edward said angrily.

"Colonel Ross is right. But I can't do this at my own discretion, I should ask Major Armstrong." He stated.

Everybody exclaimed 'no' frantically as to kill that idea as quick as possible. Even Conner barked pleadingly.

"E-excuse me. With all due respect, w-we are very close to what we are looking for. Please let us finish." Esmè spoke up quietly.

She shifted uncomfortably under all of their stares. She dropped her gaze down to the floor to avoid looking into their eyes. After another minute of silence Colonel Hughes spoke up.

"We can't do much because of the Scar incident. Also all the case files were destroyed so we couldn't work even if we wanted to."

"The case files were stored in the First branch too?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, testimony record and name list were there."

They were now at Sheska's house. She was the only person that could remember the records, so she was their best bet.

"All I can do is read though. Why recommend me?" She asked.

"Because yo-you have an incredible memory. They really need you right now. Th-that's why. Try to be more confident in yourself." Esmè stuttered.

After think about it she agreed. Esmè zoned out again and continued reading. She had a book on top on three other's that she wanted to read, she was hoping that she could at least finish the one she was on before they left but she was on a hundred pages in and there were over six hundred pages and she had just started.

Suddenly a hand was placed on the pages in front of her. Esmè pulled her ribbon in to the book as a book mark and closed the book with a nervous smile. She looked up to see Sheska holding up a tote bag.

"They're books I thought you might like." She smiled as she bent over slightly to meet the shorter girl's eyes.

"You-you're letting me barrow your books?" Esmè gaped at her.

"Yeah, I see how you become oblivious to the world when you're reading and how your eyes show different emotions as you read the book." Sheska said.

"B-but what if I forget to bring them back?" Esmè asked grabbing the tote.

"Well at least they entertained somebody." Sheska said.

"T-thank you very much." Esmè said happily.

"No problem."

"What the hell!" Esmè jumped at Edward's sudden outburst.

"Brother?" Al asked.

"I know why it's called the devil's research. I know why Marcoh abandoned the research. The Philosopher's stone uses living humans as a component!" Edward growled with anger. "I thought we had finally reached our goal." He added.

"W-what!" Esmè gasped.

"The answer we searched and searched for turned out to be this…" Edward muttered.

"Edward?" Esmè called from her spot on the couch in the boy's room. "M-may I asked why you were looking for that? The Philosopher's stone?" She asked.

For a minute it was silent, anybody would've assumed they were asleep, but she could tell he was awake. She could hear his mind reeling. Eventually she heard the bed shift and a sigh.

"We want our bodies back." He said as he stood from the bed and sat next to her on the couch. "Our mom…she died when we were younger, and we tried to bring her back. I lost my leg and Al lost his whole body." Edward explained.

"He gave his arm to bring my soul back and bind it to this armor." Al added.

Conner moved to sit between Edward's auto-mail and Esmè's real leg while Esmè stared at the ground taking it all in. Al died, Edward lost his leg and gave his arm to bring him back. Armstrong was right, they had a strong bond and it was created from their past. Why couldn't hers be like that?

"God must really condemn people who commit taboo. Just when we think our answer is right there it disappears." Edward sighed.

"Brother?" Al said.

"We thought our wish could come true when we found the Philosopher's stone. Will we stay in this form forever?" Edward asked looking up at the ceiling.

"N-no! You can't give up! When you give up bad things happen!" Esmè said making him look at her. "Y-you said you've been going at this for a while, an-and all that time you didn't give up, so don't do it now. You will figure this out, and I-I'll help you." Esmè promised.

"You're getting better with the stuttering." Edward said and his mouth twitched up a bit. "Though I may miss it, it's cute." A dull pink dust decorated her cheeks from the complement.

She smiled slightly and reached down to pet Conner, but her hand came in contact with Edward's as did the same. She stared at the connection and blinked as if she didn't know what to do. Then she blushed brighter and pulled her hand back, but Edward caught her wrist.

"You know you don't have to hide it here." Edward said quietly.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered.

"You're gloves and you're sweater. You're hiding you're arm with them." He played with the edge of the dark glove.

"Oh, it-it's become a habit now. There are certain towns that don't accept people with auto-mail, so I just leave them on most of the time." She explained.

They sat there for a second and then he started pulling it off. Surprisingly she didn't stop him. He quietly removed her gloves while she sat there allowing him to. He dropped the gloves on the table and then looked at her with a small, stressed smile.

"See, better." With that he picked himself up off the couch and went back to his bed.

"Yeah, better." She whispered, before picking up a stack of papers and rereading them.

Esmè went through paper after paper dead set on finding something. But she found nothing new in any of the papers, soon enough she found herself trying to think about it in different ways. In her head she mixed the different ingredients to see what she came up with but she always came back to the same thing. Esmè had always been one to think outside the box, it was hard trying to find a way out of the box with this, but she was going to try her best figure it out, and help them.

After a bit she noticed Al sat down and was going over too. She smiled lightly at him and glanced over her shoulder towards Edward's bed half expecting him to join but he stayed on his bed.

"Brother? Let's start from the beginning." Al said.

"Forget it."

"But if we reread them we might find something new!" Al tried again.

"Forget it."

"He's right." Esmè got up and walked over to the boy who lay facing the wall. "We may have misread someth—." She was cut off by Edward.

"I said forget it!" He yelled as he jumped up from the bed while knocking the papers from her hands making her jump.

He realized what he had done when he had seen the clear evidence of fear in her eyes. He stepped towards and raised his hand only to have her flinch away and. They stood there, not moving and there was the faint sound of the door opening and voices but she couldn't focus on that. She blinked herself back and then dropped to her knees and started gathering the papers.

"I, um, I'm s-sorry for bo-bothering you." She apologized quietly.

"No, I'm sorry for yelling at you." Edward was now on his knees picking the paper up as well.

"It's al-alright." She forced a smiled.

"But I scared you…" He muttered.

"Um, you're j-just frustrated. I-I get it, really." She told him.

After they picked up the papers Colonel Ross convinced Edward to continue trying, well after pissing him off and calling him a child. After deciding to try again they all worked to decipher Marcoh's research. They came up with the possibility that because the one lab that had been shut down had been used for the research and it happened to be in front of the prison. They just pretended that the prisoners were executed for their crimes.

"Ar-are you really go-going to let them investigate the lab?" Esmè asked after their escorts left.

"Nope." Edward grinned.

"Why can't you do it by yourself?" Esmè whined as she stepped into Al's hands so he could throw her onto the wall where Edward currently stood.

"Because I need to be able to pull Al up and I could use the extra muscle." Edward said.

"Are you ready?" Al asked politely.

She nodded and she was bounced from his hands up to the wall. Edward made it look so easy to land but luck wasn't on her side. She landed on the edge and started to fall backwards. She squeezed her mouth shut and used all her willpower not to scream. Edward gripped her hand and pulled her up and secured her by the waist and she grabbed his shoulder. The way they were standing it looked like they were dancing.

"Th-thanks, Edward." She said releasing herself from his grip.

"You know, you can just call me Ed. Most people do." He said bending down to unravel the barb wire.

"W-well I'm not most people," She said doing the same. "Edward." She added with a simple smile.

The two silently unraveled the wire and dropped it down for Al. They carefully helped Al up and then made their way to the entrance to see it was barbed and sealed. Pretty high security for a place that was going to be torn down.

"Guys look." Al pointed out a vent over to their left.

"It looks like it continues inside." Edward said from his spot upon his brother shoulder.

"Will you be alright alone?" Al asked as his brother climbed into the vent.

"It doesn't matter you're too big to climb in here, Al." Edward said before continuing.

Al looked at Esmè and after a second she sighed. She stepped up on him and followed Edward quietly. After a few feet Edward turned around and looked at her. She looked at him hard telling him to move it. Edward kicked a vent open and jump through quickly followed by Esmè. The two looked around and saw no one; that was half expected.

"Edward!" Esmè cried tackling him out of the way of the falling spikes.

Her eyes widened as she felt the block under her sink a bit. Edward grabbed her and rolled her over to dodge the large knife that swing down. Obviously with all the traps set about somebody must really want to keep others out. Esmè felt another block sink and she groaned before a loud rumbling noise sounded.

"Oh what now?" Edward started to turn around to look.

"You don't want to know!" Esmè grabbed his hand and tugged him along as she ran.

Suddenly Esmè tripped over a rock and took Edward down with her. Perfect. Once again he hugged her close and rolled them to the side until they met the wall. The ball rolled past them and didn't even graze them. Esmè smirked thinking of something to irritate the boy on top of her.

"Normal sized people…" She started.

"Don't even." He said.

"Would never have made it," She was trying not to laugh.

"Esmè…" He warned his voice muffled in her shoulder.

"Through the air vent and past that ball." She finished.

"I get it! My tininess came in handy!" He yelled.

"I'm small too, so it wasn't just you." She laughed pushing him slightly making roll off of her.

"Whatever. Anyway I'm sick of these traps." The boy clasped his hands together and placed them on the ground turning the hall into solid stone.

"Couldn't think of that sooner, shortstack?" She asked walking ahead.

"You're short too!" He yelled.

The two came up to a door, it wasn't sealed or locked it was just there. Edward pushed it open and walked through followed by Esmè. She looked around and jumped into Edward when the door closed and a voice rang out. A man in armor appeared in the dark.

"Good job in making it here. I welcome you." Then he drew his sword.

"Th-that doesn't seem like a nice welcome." Esmè blinked at the sword.

"Damn, you broke her again. She's stuttering again." Edward mumbled.

"Asshole…" She slapped his arm lightly.

"The task of securing this laboratory was assigned to me. I'll call myself number forty-eight now." He said.

"Forty-eight?" Esmè wondered.

"I'm excited to fight you, Fullmetal one, and I'm curious to know your skills, girl." He held his sword in a ready position.

"You guard this place right? I have a question for you." Edward said.

"I'll answer it if you beat me." With that Forty-eight charged at them.

Esmè stepped and swung her left arm out. A long sword was revealed from her sleeve, handle first. She pulled it the rest of the way out and used it to block his attack. He pulled back and swung towards her side. She simply jumped up and over it to the left as it swung to the right.

Now Edward attacked. He swung out with his own dagger and tried to attack him, but forty-eight was fast. Edward blocked his swing with his arm. Forty-eight made a comment about being able to cut through any metal. Edward knocked him off and back and Esmè took her chance she ran and kicked him in the side but something was off. She jumped and bounced of his sword used his helmet to flip off of and pulled his face mask up.

The two were not surprised at the sight when he turned around to face them. He was the same as Al, he was just armor. The two stared at him, there was a symbol inside his mask, one like Al's, this man's soul was bonded to this armor.

"I knew it. You're empty inside." Esmè confirmed.

"I'm surprised you noticed." He said.

"We know a guy like you. It was the way your armor responded when we hit you." Edward explained.

"This affixing a soul to armor idea is a quite popular. Why didn't I think of it?" Esmè muttered.

"I'm actually surprised there was an idiot who thought of it like me." Edward said.

"Let me reintroduce myself." He offered fixing his armor.

"You were a prisoner and forty-eight was your number." Esmè stepped in.

"How?" Forty-eight asked.

"I-it wasn't that hard to figure out after seeing th-that you were empty an-and knowing the background about th-this place." Esmè stuttered.

"Yes, you're right. To the public I was named as the 'Slicer' and they all believed I had been executed two years ago. But now I am an immortal guardian for this place." Forty-eight said.

"No, you're not immortal. If that seal is destroyed you will die." Edward told him. "We know your weak point now, you should give up." He added.

"I'm the type of person who seeks tension in a fight." Forty-eight said getting into position.

The three stood ready for anything. Esmè ducked out of the way as he swung her way. She quickly rolled up and blocked his next attack with her sword, the two struggled with each other, but he was able to eventually knock her sword away and threw her back. She groaned at the growing pain in her tailbone.

Esmè watched as Edward tried his best to get an attack in on him but the guy was fast even in the big armor, all that Edward accomplished was getting himself stabbed and cut. She noticed his arm spark when he blocked another attack and then she remembered that his arm was less durable now. Esmè took another chance and ran forward at the man and kicked him to the ground while he gloated about his partner killing their friend outside.

"I've fought him since we were kids and I have not once beaten him in a fight." Edward said from his spot on the ground as he held his shoulder.

Esmè swung to attack him again while merely avoiding his attacks. Neither of them was lucky enough to land an attack until he cut her across her abdomen. She fell to the ground and then he cut her side as she rolled away from him. She stood up and ripped the bottom of her shirt off.

"Is that all you've got?" Forty-eight asked.

"Did you know?" She placed her hands on her stomach. "Blood is seventy percent water."

Her hands sparked and she slowly pulled out two daggers of and froze them. She held the two knives and got into another defensive stance. She raced towards him and this time she worked better with two knives. Esmè swung towards his helmet but he simply blocked her with his sword.

"Give it up, you've lost too much blood. You have no chance of winning." Forty-eight said.

"Have you forgotten?" She panted looking behind him as if there was someone there.

He twisted around to swing at nothing but air. Edward was standing away from the fight and she was behind him now. Esmè jumped up and cut the helmet of barely missing the seal. She heard his body fall and his helmet land a bit away from her.

Esmè heard Edward talking to him but she couldn't really focus on anything but her wounds. She heard the tell-tale sound of the armor picking itself and then she heard fighting. She stood up and made her way over to the two.

"If I die" She heard Edward start. "Who will put Al back in his regular body?" he yelled.

"This is for brother!" The body of the armor yelled racing towards him but his sword came in contact with Esmè's shoulder.

"And this is for trying to kill my friend, damn it." Esmè said with her hands against his chest.

Suddenly his armor was destroyed. His top was separated from the bottom. Irritated, she yanked the sword out of her shoulder with a small grunt. She then dropped the sword to the floor and fell along with it. Esmè heard Edward slide down the wall next to her. After that everything faded to black.

Esmè woke hearing noises of things being moves and metal scratching against the floor. Opening her eyes saw noticed she was in another room and saw Edward pushing containers around into a circle. She stood, using the wall as support and placed her hand of her stomach. She wasn't bleeding anymore.

"E-Edward?" She called weakly. "What are you doing?" She balanced on her own.

"You should be careful, you lost a lot of blood." Edward told her.

"You have too." She started her way to him. "Now, what are you doing?" She asked again.

"I'm going to make it." He said simply. She understood what he meant.

"You should let me help." Now she was walking a bit straighter, stumbling a bit.

"Esmè you need to rest." He tried.

"So do you."

"You might get hurt more." He watched her come closer.

"You might too."

"You…You could… You could die! It could use you as a component and you could die! You're our friend you can't die!" he yelled.

"You dumbass! You're my friend and Al's brother, you can't die either!" She yelled back. "I…I won't let you, shortstack." She added.

He stared at her before smiling softly. "You're short too."

She laughed at him before a rumbling sound echoed from above and then the ceiling began to crack. Suddenly they were buried under rubbish and men. Esmè felt her bum and back come in contact with the floor and felt a constant weight on top of her.

"You alright?" He asked as he stood up from his spot over top of her.

"I've been better." She winced as he helped her up.

"There were more researchers here other than you?" Edward asked a man, whom she just noticed.

"They have prison suits on." The man whispered.

"Why are they here?" Edward yelled. "If we had performed the transmutation without knowing…" he stopped himself.

"Who brought you all here?" Esmè asked.

"I did." A man said from behind. "They were transferred here under my orders." The man turned out to be Brigadier General. "Who gave you two permission to come down here?"

Suddenly Edward jumped at him and tried to punch him but he shifted into another person. Now Esmè remembered hearing about Brigadier General dying. Who was this person and why was he posing as a dead General?

"Brigadier General died in front of me." Edward said.

"If that's the case, who the hell are you?" Esmè asked coming up behind Edward.

"Nice to meet you, Fullmetal and Steelrain." The person said, it was hard to decipher if it was a male or a female. "You're both quite bold for coming here." It complemented. "Just kidding, you're both worthless."

Irritated Esmè lunged at the person and tried to kick at them but they merely dodged. "Hmm, it seems shorty's girlfriend wants a fight." It laughed. She blushed at it comment a bit but tried to ignore it.

Edward went to perform a transmutation but his arm didn't work. Seeing an opening the shifting person hit him and beat him to the ground. Esmè tried to land a hit but she had to avoid the foot sent her way. When the person kicked at her she noticed something.

Surprised by her discovery she didn't see the fist coming towards her face. The person kicked her in the side but before she was able to go very far another kick was sent to her other side and then straight to her stomach. Esmè landed with a grunt next to Edward. She felt the person start to stomp on her stomach.

"Envy, it's your fault you didn't check all of the ingredients." A woman said halting the kicks. "You don't want to be hurt anymore, right Fullmetal? If so please finish the transmutation. It was a mere accident but all the ingredients are still here." She said.

"Create the Philosopher's stone with the prisoners?" Edward muttered looking at the men that fell through the roof.

"You...that was the plan. They were going to use you to kill those men and make that damn stone for them!" Esmè panted. Her stomach was bleeding again.

"He can't exactly say 'no'." The woman said as a fat dopey looking man came in dragging Al's torso along.

"Al!" The two yelled.

"These people…"Al started. "These people are Homunculus." Al stated.

"What?" Edward looked at them.

"Correct." The man from earlier said. "These people are Homunculus, perfect artificial humans. They promised me the secret of it. If I know the secret I can bring Nina back." The man spoke softly.

"What the point? Her soul won't be there!" Edward yelled.

"If I insert my memories of her, it will be there. A perfect Nina will be made." He whispered.

"She's your daughter. Nina, I assume. Yes she will be made to your liking and she will be perfect. But," Esmè started. "That's not the point in humans! Humans aren't freaking perfect, we're not supposed to be!" Esmè yelled, before Envy kicked her in the stomach.

"Shut up! Now Fullmetal continue the transmutation." It said.

He moved over to the maroon haired girl as she gasped in pain. Esmè defiantly had a few broken ribs, it hurt every time she took a breath. That genderless thing had one helluva kick.

"This is troublesome. We can't use alchemy, so we asked for some help." The woman said.

"Then why do you need the Philosopher's stone?" Edward wondered. "Ah I get it. You're just like Cornello. An idiot who thinks he's superior and infatuated with the idea of changing the world."

"No, I want to be human. That's all." She told him.

"The person who created you is an alchemist. Why not get them to do it?" This time it was his turn be kicked in the side.

"No one created us! We were born!" Envy yelled.

"All we were able to do was give hints to someone who wanted the stone and guide them to complete the stone." The woman said.

"So all the times and everything about red water and The Philosopher's stone were just…" Edward gaped.

"I-it was just to pull people like you in…" Esmè said trying to ignore the steady flow of blood from her stomach.

"No, we came here for our own reasons!" Edward yelled.

"Because we desired you to." The mysterious woman said.

"No, we did this on our own." Edward muttered not believing it.

"We'll tell you how to make it and in return you'll turn us into humans." She said.

"I can't trust you people." Edward said.

"We're not asking." She picked up forty-eight's head and started scratching at the seal. "When you affix a soul to armor you can easily kill them." With that she cut the head into pieces and then she bent down next to Al.

"I'll do it…" Esmè said quietly.

"Esmè—." Edward started.

"No! If I do it everybody gets what they want!" Esmè stood up weakly. "They get to be human, you guys get your bodies back, and you don't have to kill these men." She smiled softly.

"But—." Edward was once again cut off.

"Just fix the ceiling, damn it!" She shouted. "It's okay, Ed." She added softly.

He reluctantly did as she asked and she began to move the containers back to their places. She ignored Al's yells and Edward's stare and continued with her work. Esmè avoided the eyes of the prisoners by hiding behind the red bangs that didn't fit in her ponytail and got down to her knees. She clapped her hands and tried to force herself to do it but she just couldn't do it.

Suddenly a wall blew up; its force shattered some of the containers. Esmè sighed in relief and quickly stood up to run. But the woman who threatened Al's life stabbed her in her left bicep with the long fingers of hers and then yanked her forward, making her fall into the water. As soon as she touched the water she screamed.

Her scream compelled Edward to try and help her but when he stepped into the water he did the same and a grapple like item shot out from his hand and hit the wall next to the mysterious woman. Esmè unconsciously froze the red water into spikes and shot them towards the Homunculus. She seized roughly in the water.

_A girl was crying with her face on the hospital bed. She had been there for hours doing so. Another girl laid in the bed asleep. The doctors didn't believe she'd make it, but the girl wanted to believe different. Suddenly she felt her hand get squeezed._

"_I can't sleep with you crying." The girl in the bed groaned._

"_Esmè!" The girl gasped happily leaping up from her chair. "You Idiot! You could've died! What were you thinking?" She yelled angrily. Bipolar, huh? _

"_I was thinking you were in danger, so I needed to do whatever I could to help you. Even if that meant hurting myself." Esmè said._

"_But…your leg, Esmè." She said sadly looking at the spot her leg used to be._

"_It's okay." Esmè said wiping the tears that fell down the girl's face. "Plus later I can show everybody the awesome auto-mail leg you're going to make me!" Esmè said with a grin._

"_I love you Esmè." The girl climbed into the bed and laid with her._

"_I love you too, Luna." _

_Luna…_


End file.
